DORCHESTER – The Marathon County district attorney will not seek criminal charges against village of Dorchester Police Chief Gary Leichtman.

Following the review of an investigation into Leichtman for alleged misconduct in office and false imprisonment, Ken Heimerman, district attorney, said there isn’t evidence to prove Leichtman committed any crimes.

The investigation stemmed from a bar fight in Dorchester on April 7, 2013, between his 30-year-old son, Chad, and Thomas Danen, 31, of Abbotsford.

A case report filed by the Clark County Sheriff’s Department included that the investigating officer learned Leichtman had arrested Danen at his father’s rural Marathon County home for battery.

The Taylor County District Attorney had declined to issue charges against either man involved in the fight, as both men seemed to be engaged in disorderly conduct, footage of the incident was not available in the surveillance video Gary Leichtman collected and because Gary Leichtman had arrested and interviewed Danen.

Clark County Sheriff Greg Herrick in January asked the Marshfield Police Department to investigate Gary Leichtman’s actions in the case. Both Herrick and Leichtman are candidates in the Aug. 12 Republican primary for Clark County sheriff.

The MPD investigation concluded that Heimerman should consider criminal prosecution of Leichtman on the basis of misconduct in public office and false imprisonment.

Heimerman said there are five conditions that must be met for a false imprisonment charge, and Leichtman’s actions met all but one — that he knew he did not have lawful authority to confine or restrain the victim.

“Mr. Leichtman thought he could arrest the person because the crime happened in his community. He also pointed that out (to the investigating officer) that there were other times he has arrested people outside his jurisdiction,” Heimerman said.

He added, “I am equally troubled by his lack of discretion/common sense when he chose to investigate a bar fight involving his own son. However, this lack of discretion/common sense did not impact my charging decision and will need to be addressed by others.”

No comment from Wayne Rau, Dorchester village president, was available Friday.

In an earlier interview, Rau said the village was waiting for the completion of Heimerman’s review of the case prior to making a decision about disciplining Leichtman.

Liz Welter can be reached at 715-384-3131. Find her on Twitter as @welter_liz.